Foldable carriage for children



Oct. 30, 1951 1.. G. MACIP FOLDABLE CARRIAGE FOR CHILDREN Filed July 19,1947 IN V EN TOR.

3 if Wkfik Patented Oct. 30, 1951 FOLDABLE CARRIAGE FOR CHILDREN LuisGelambi Macip, Barcelona, Spain Application July 19, 1947, SerialNo.762,171 In Spain August 9, 1941 Section 1, Public Law 690, August 8,1946 Patent expires August 9, 1961 Claims.

My present invention relates to foldable carriages for children.

Still another object of my present invention consists in providing a,folding carriage of the above type which takes up a very small space infolded position.

It is also an object of my present invention to provide a foldingcarriage which can be easily carried with one hand and, if folded, takesup so little space that it can be placed without any difiiculty in anyvehicle, e. g. an automobile.

Finally, it is also an object of my present invention to provide afolding carriage which is very easy to handle, i. e. which can be foldedand unfolded by anybody without any special skill.

With the above objects in view, the folding carriage proposed by me iscomposed of a series of cooperating elements, namely, two pairs ofstays, each of the pairs of stays composed of one forwardly ascendingstay and one rearwardly ascending stay crossing each other, a pair ofconnecting means each turnably connecting one of these pairs of stays attheir crossing point,

wheels turnably pivoted to the bottom ends of all the stays, a seatmember pivoted to the upper front ends of the forwardly ascending stays,a rear connecting bar connecting the upper ends of the rearwardlyascending stays, spring means turnably attached at one of its ends tothe seat member and at the other of its ends to the rear connecting barsuspending the seat member fro the rear connecting bar, a U-shapedhandle bar pivotally attached to the upper ends of the rearwardlyascending stays, and two arm bars each pivoted at its front end to theupper end of one of these forwardly ascending stays and at its rear endto the U-shaped handle bar at a slight distance from the upper ends ofthe rearwardly ascending stays.

In accordnce with a preferred embodiment, I equip a folding carriage ofthe above type with a back member turnably pivoted to the rearconnecting bar and with spring means resiliently holding this backmember in proper upright position when the carriage is in operativeposition.

I have also found it advisable, in order to keep the carriage inoperative position, to provide securing means each combined with one ofthe connecting means for preventing turning of the stays relative toeach other.

The same purpose is served by the provision of means preventing turningof the U-shaped handle bar relative to the upper ends of the rearwardlyascending stays, whenever desired.

Finally, I have found it advisable to provide a foot rest secured to thebottom ends of the rearwardly ascending stays between the wheels pivotedto the same.

The novel features which I consider as characteristic for my inventionare set forth in particular in the appended claims. The inventionitself, however, both as to its construction and its method ofoperation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, willbe best understood from the following description of specificembodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a folding carriage according to mypresent invention, in operative position;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the folding carriage shown in Fig. l, infolded position;

Fig. 3 is a partial end view, partly in cross section, of the connectingand securing means pivoting the stays to each other; and

Fig. 4 is a partial end view, partly in cross section, of the connectingand securing means pivoting the handle bar to the upper ends of thestays.

As clearly shown in the drawings, the folding carriage according to mypresent invention is composed mainly of two rearwardly ascending stays Iand two forwardly ascending stays 2 tumably secured to each other by theconnecting means 3 which will be described further below in detail.

The rear upper ends of the rearwardly ascending stays I are connectedwith each other by the rear connecting bar 8 and the upper ends of theforwardly ascending stays 2 are connected with each other by a frontconnecting bar not clearly shown in the drawings.

The seat member 6 is secured turnably to this front connecting bar andthe upper end of the stays 2 by pivoting means 5. The rear edge of seatmember 6 is secured by means of brackets and spring I to the rearconnecting bar 8, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Furthermore, wheels 4 are pivoted to the bottom ends of the stays I and2, as shown. These bottom ends of the stays are preferably alsoconnected by connecting bars as shown in Fig. 1.

A U-shapedhandle bar consisting of thetwo legs I2 and the cross bar I3is pivoted at its lower end b means of combined pivots and securingmeans I4 to the upper ends of the stays I. The constructive details ofthese pivots I I will be described farther below in detail.

Furthermore, back support 9 is resiliently securedby means of springs IDto the connecting bar 8 so as to be in proper upright position when thecarriage is in its operative condition shown in Fig. 1.

In addition to the above listed elements, my folding carriage comprisestwo arm bars II pivoted to the front ends of the stays 2 by the pivotingmeans 5 described above. and turnably secured to the legs I2 of thehandle bar described above and shown in Figs. 1 and 2..

Finally, the foot rest I5 is secured to the bottom ends of the stays I,as clearly shown in the drawings. N

A folding carriage ofthis type can easily be I foldedfrom its operativeposition shown in Fig. 1 into its folded position shown in Fig. 2.

It should be stressed that such folding is made posisible partly by thesprings I arranged as described above.

In order to enable securing of the stays I and 2 to each other in anydesired position, I combine with each of the stays 2 a disc shapedmember I! having a serrated surface adapted to cooperate with-theserrated surface of a correspondin disc shaped member I6 secured to stayI as shown in Fig. 3.

Furthermore, I provide a screw I8 passing through holes instay I and thediscs I16 and Il and turnably secured at its end to stay 2. This screwengages a screw threading provided in the holes arranged in stay I anddisc I6. At the other end of screw I8 I provide a knob I9 by rwhich itis possible to turn the screw I8. It is evident that turning of thescrew I8 in one direction will force the serrated surfaces of the discs-*I.I5 and I! towards. each other preventing turning of the stays I or 2relativeto each other.

of knob 19 in opposite direction will free the stays and enable foldingand unfolding of the carriage.

Similarly, at the bottom end of each of the legs I2 I provide :a disc 2Ihaving a serrated ---surface engaging the serrated surface of a disc'21) secured to the top end of the corresponding stay I. I also providea screw 22 which is turnably secured to disc 21 and engages a screw"discs 29 and ZI towards and away from each other thus preventing andenabling, respectively,

turning of the handle bar relative to the stay .I.

In order to enable attachment of the rear connecting bar 8 to the stays,thescrew 22 is pro- "vided with a hole through which the bar 8 ispassing, as clearly shown in'Fig. 4.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or twoor more together, may .also find a useful application in other types offolding carriages, differing from the types described above.

While I have illustrated and described the invention as embodied infolding carriages of the type described above, I do not intend to belimited to the detailsshown, since various modificaticns and structuralchanges may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of myinvention. Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully revealthe gist of my invention that others can by applying current knowledgereadily adapt it for various applications without omitting featuresthat, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essentialcharacteristics of the generic or specific aspects-of this invention,and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to becomprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of thefollowing claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a folding carriage for children in combination two pairs of stays,each of said pairs of stays arranged crossing each other; a pair ofconnecting means each turnably connecting one of said pairs of stays attheir crossing point; wheels turnably pivoted to the bottom ends of saidstays; a front connecting bar connecting the upper front ends of saidstays; a rear connecting bar connecting the upper rear ends of saidstays; a back member turnably pivoted to said rear connecting bar;spring means resiliently holding said back member in proper uprightposition when said carriage is in operative position; a seat memberpivoted at its front edge to said front connecting bar; a spring meansturnably attached to the rear edge of said seat member and secured tosaid rear connecting bar so as to resiliently suspend said seat memberfrom said rear connecting bar; a U-shaped handle bar pivotally attachedto the upper rear ends of said stays; and two arm bars each pivoted atits front end to the upper front end of one of said stays and at itsrear end to one leg of said U- shaped handle bar.

2. In a folding carriage for children in combination two pairs of stays,each of said pairs of stays composed of one forwardly ascending stay andone rearwardly ascending stay crossing each other; a pair of connectingmeans each turnably connecting one of said pairs of stays at theircrossing point; wheels turnably pivoted to the bottom ends of all saidstays; a seat member pivoted to the upper front ends of said forwardlyascending stays; a rear connecting bar connecting the upper ends of saidrearwardly ascending stays; a back member turnably mounted on said rearconnecting bar; first spring means secured to said rear connecting barand tending to hold said back member in upright position; second springmeans turnably attached at one of its ends to said seat member and atthe other of its ends to said rear connecting bar suspending said seatmember from said rear connecting bar; a U- shaped handle bar pivotallyattached to the upper ends of said rearwardly ascending stays; and twoarm bars each pivoted at its front end to the upper end of one of saidforwardly ascending stays and at its rear end to said U-shaped handlebar at a slight distance from the upper ends of said rearwardlyascending stays.

3. In a folding carriage for children in combination two pairs of stays,each of said pairs of stays composed of one forwardly ascending stay andone rearwardly ascending stay crossing each other; a pair of connectingmeans each turnably connecting one of said pairs of stays at theircrossing point; wheels turnably pivoted to the bottom ends of all saidstays; a seat member pivoted to the upper front ends of said forwardlyascending stays; a rear connecting bar connectmg the upper ends of saidrearwardly ascending stays; a back member turnably mounted on said rearconnecting bar; firstspring means secured to said rear connecting barand tending to hold said back member in upright position; second springmeans turnably attached at one of its ends to said seat member and atthe other of its ends to said rear connecting bar suspending said seatmember from said rear connecting bar; a U- shaped handle bar composed oftwo parallel legs and a cross member; a pair of connecting means eachturnably connecting the free end of one leg of said U-shaped handle barto the upper end of one of said rearwardly ascending stays; and two armbars each pivoted at its front end to the upper end of one of saidforwardly ascending stays and at its rear end to one leg of said U-shaped handle bar at a slight distance from the upper ends of saidrearwardly ascending stays.

4. In a folding carriage for children in combination two pairs of stays,each of said pairs of stays composed of one forwardly ascending stay andone rearwardly ascending stay crossing each other; a pair of connectingmeans each turnably connecting one of said pairs of stays at theirconnecting point; manually operable securing means each combined withone of said connecting means for preventing turning of said staysrelative to each other whenever desired; wheels turnably pivoted to thebottom ends of all said stays; a seat member pivoted to the upper frontends of said forwardly ascending stays; a rear connecting bar connectingthe upper ends of said rearwardly ascending stays; a back memberturnably mounted on said rear connecting bar; first spring means securedto said rear connecting bar and tending to hold said back member inupright position; second spring means turnably attached 1 at one of itsends to said seat member and at the other of its ends to said rearconnecting bar suspending said seat member from said rear connectingbar; a U-shaped handle bar pivotally attached to the upper ends of saidrearwardly ascending stays; manually operable means preventing turningof said U-shaped handle bar relative to the upper ends of saidrearwardly ascending stays; whenever desired; and two arm bars eachpivoted at its front end to the upper end of one of said forwardlyascending stays and at its f 9 2 9 11!; g' l aped handle 1??!1 a aslight distance from the upper ends of said rearwardly ascending stays.

5. In a folding carriage for children in combination two pairs of stays,each of said pairs of. stays composed of one forwardly ascending stayand one rearwardly ascending stay crossing each other; a pair ofconnecting means each turnably connecting one of said pairs of stays attheir crossing point; wheels turnably pivoted to the bottom ends of allsaid stays; a seat member pivoted to the upper front ends of saidforwardly ascending stays; a rear connecting bar connecting the upperends of said rearwardly ascending stays; a back member turnably mountedon said rear connecting bar; first spring means secured to said rearconnecting bar and tending to hold said back member in upright position;second spring means turnably attached at one of its ends to said seatmember and at the other of its ends to said rear connecting barsuspending said seat member from said rear connecting bar; a U-shapedhandle bar pivotally attached to the upper ends of said rearwardlyascending stays;

' two arm bars each pivoted at its front end to the upper end of one ofsaid forwardly ascending stays and at its rear end to said U-shapedhandle bar at a slight distance from the upper ends of said rearwardlyascending stays; and a foot rest secured to the bottom ends of saidrearwardly ascending stays between the wheels pivoted to the same.

LUIS GELAMBI MACIP.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,855,567 Brown Apr. 26, 19321,926,357 Westphal Sept. 12, 1933 2,029,247 Mercogliano Jan. 28, 1936FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date ."'.TT 'T"".'

